Well, Congrats on getting through your first Trial, Shipdamite!! I ride at the Novice level here, and last June I recall being totally flabbergasted (and beaten!) by those tight turns they threw at us Newbies. I had way more 5s & 3s than I thought I'd get. I'd been to watch a couple of local trials, and sitting alongside the Novice sections, thought they looked pretty easy. Man, was I ever wrong! But I did have a boatload of fun, however. The guys on the two twinshock bikes I rode with were great to ride with.....Stay with it; it actually does get easier, sometimes.....
Zippy, you must be Blessed Amongst Men! You have a Gas Gas Trials bike, a Truck of Death, a Lucky Penguin, and the legs of swimsuit model! Well, maybe not the last one there.... I went to your website, and did happen to read the article about knee braces. That's gonna be relevant to me in the future....
Neilh & ShercoBen12, you guys are my Heroes!Anybody that got to ride today, crash, pick their bike up, and ride some more is my Hero! And Ben, is it that warm there to ride in a T-shirt, or are you just gonna ride no matter what?
I did go out to the barn, and after squeezing my clutch lever a few times, thought I'd chance a ride. I should have just hit myself in head with a hammer instead. I went for about 5 minutes, and rode over a stump I've done dozens of times. I didn't clear it this time, and came down on the skid plate. I now have a an expensive sounding clattering noise coming from the clutch side of my bike.
Jimmie
Jimmie - it sounds like I could have written that first paragraph, because thats how it has been for me.............! so, that is encouraging too! thanks for that. cheers - Andrew
Good to see you there Ship. My scores were so bad today that I didn't even bother to hand in my score card. This was largely down to having fun.... Lots and lots of fun with my mates Trying new things and generally fooling about.
From the little I saw of you, you were doing fine. You might want to consider working on slow speed control. You can do this at home by doing things like doing progressively smaller figures of 8.
Also make use of the rear brake to help to control and smooth your clutch control
Above all... Practice
The Dabbers club is perfect for people like yourself. Have fun and enjoy it
thanks Blocky - words of encouragement are good! 2nd time around the woods, I tried going as slow as I could; almost coming to standstill's and balancing and inching around some of the tight bends......... the balance was getting better....... years of thrashing around on a dirtbike and dabbing to get through deep slimey ruts is sort of ingrained.......... it was wierd yesterday not having to fight a pack of bikes at speed. as you say, practice and patience. I am going to sign up for the next one at s.d and hopefully get to the ellingham one this sunday for a look - see. thanks again - Andrew
How did you (and your bike) do at the trial today? Was it your very first one, or the first one of this year, or???
Nielh, how're your wheel bearings holding up?
I've been working overtime at the ole airlpane factory, so I couldn't squeeze my lever toaday......
Zippy.... Any pics of this much fabled Penguin?
Jimmie
Hi Jimmie - today was my first ever trial ever! it was hard work - lots of 5's and 3's and three 2's - much more difficult than i thought it would be....... the hardest bit was going up a hill then having to do a T I G H T turn at the top....... managed better on this in the afternoon, but still plenty of dabs. a bit dissapointed in my points, but I can only improve............. hopefully. The bike was good although I found the clutch a bit 'off and on' despite being adjusted to 2mm freeplay, freshly bled and oiled............ guess its a Gas Gas thing (using the expensive putoline oil rather than atf which has improved this alot though). the only other slight technical glitch was the magnet on my lanyard kill swith parting company with the lanyard. that has just been superglued though, so hopefully that will all be good.
Are you going to the Dabbers trial at Santon Downham tomorrow shipdamite? If so say hello to the old fat bloke on the fantic 240. Its always nice to be able to put a face to a name
hello Blocky - I didnt see this posting of yours but we did say hello in the queue for one of the sections in the section over the other side from the forest section. my first trial and both cards had a mixture of 5's and 3's with three 2's! much more difficult then I thought it would be - and that was supposed to be an easy route............. been riding dirtbikes for years but today was something else. how did you do today? I will be signing up for the next one for sure.
If you want to post an image in a reply to a topic that either you or someone else has started then scroll to the “Reply to this topic” box at the bottom of the topic as you would normally do and then click “More Reply Options” in the bottom right:
Once you’ve done that, you’ll see the “Attach Files” section below the reply input box. From here, the process for uploading and attaching images is exactly the same as it is for starting a new topic detailed above.
Hi - problem is, when I do this, there isnt the 'attach files' section............ I have emailed Andy for some help, but none so far..... can anyone help me on this please? An i.t genius I am not! cheers - Andrew
Today I mainly fussed about checking the bike over for my first trial tomorrow. I then packed up a box of stuff to take - petrol can, oil, a few tools, cable ties (or zip ties for those over the pond ;-] ... ), gaffa tape and a 21 inch tube. 'kit back' will include helmet, boots and gloves.
so much easier then going to an event with the enduro bike.
I resisted pumping the clutch incase I get r.s.i ;-]
today - after putting right the carnage inflicted on the ktm during the last mudfest - I noticed that once again the tank graphics on the gasser were peeling off.
I am fed up with gluing them back in place........ so, off with the tank, off with the graphics and I sanded the tank down to bare aluminium and polished it up.
looks good (even if l say so myself) and it visually ties in with the frame and the exhaust, making them look like one component, only broken up visually by the airbox and fender plastics.
the downside will be that the tank will get dinged by my petrol can.
my bike is in pieces, sitting diagonally on the bike stand waiting for parts after my wheel bearing debacle.
im relying on todays post or it'll be the new year before i get to ride which is annoying as i got Bou coming round later for a riding lesson and a bowl of Paella
you do training AND food?? where do I sign up??? ;-]
I was presented some quality shed time today as I have been freed from shopping and other associated christmas trauma.
today I managed to:
ping off the fork seal covers and clean out the crud from the seals with a thin piece of plastic (like the forksaver device); not too bad in there really.
fixed a small rubber bush (shock bush, out of the tin of 'it'll come in handy one day' bits) over the end of the stand and lockwired it in place - to stop the stand clanking on landing and digging into the end of the subframe and my new S3 chain adjuster.
made a mudflap out of a fuchs off cleaner bottle (just the right curves) and riveted it on (the cleaner is b.o.g.o.f at m+p at the mo)
made a similar mudflap for the rear, although this drops down at approx 45o and extends for 100mm or so; should be enough to stop the worst of the spray from the back.......... the plastic is opaque so looks quite subtle.
I then realised that I have 11 days till my first trial; can't wait.
Realised that the plastic bit in the chain tensioner was so worn that the 2 securing screws had started to wear, as had the alloy side plate. phoned up the nice people in Derby for that and a new sump bolt.
The tensioner arm looks like it has had some beans in the past, so i straightened that out so the chain will run a bit straighter.
Having looked at the rest of the chain slider bits, I decided that they were good for a while longer.
With the chain off (non o ring renthal) I gave it a good clean and a soak in an oil bath.
One thing that I forgot to mention at the start of this topic was the fitting of an hour meter so I can keep an eye on oil changes etc.
reassuring to see that its not just me that is picking the bike up fairly regularly; this I dont mind - until I broke the kickstart a couple of weeks back!
good idea on the short levers; I run them on my orange bike in the photo, although they are 'home made' - I had a set of broken levers (where they break on the snap line) so i heated some plastic pipe over the levers, then filed down the ends......... nice and short and grippy with the plastic covering. stock just seem way too long, more specially when you run handguards.
As with the enduro bike, I run my gassers levers loose so I can adjust the position on the fly and so they don't break when I chuck the bike.
neat idea on the stainless............ i was thinking that a mkll version could have some domed hex bolts (they are round head captives, filed down to take an 8mm spanner at the mo).
neat idea on the no. plate bolts too........... i use a no. plate bolt on the centre fixing already - so its ok for all three fixings; weak enough to shear?
I thought that it might be good to have a 'what did you do to your gas gas' section.
I freely admit that i have taken this from the uk ktm forum! it seems to be a useful thread and has been in existence for several years with many hundreds of postings. On the ktm forum it is a useful exchange of ideas and I hope that it could be the same on this forum.
so, I will start:
2005 txt pro
today I cleaned up my brake calipers etc and whilst the wheels were out, I picked off the wheel bearing covers and repacked the bearings with outboard motor grease.
I also made some (hopefully bomb proof) bar ends with - from the outside in - bolts / washers (the diamer of the grips) / rubber pipe / nut........ put it in the bar end, tighten, and the nut compresses and expands the rubber pipe, securing it in the handle bar.
This will hopefully stop the throttle from jamming up with sh*t - as a newb, the bike gets chucked away a lot at the mo ;-]
finally, rear fender held on with skinny cable ties so they break first.
i fitted an hour meter on mine; just wired in by wrapping a pick up wire around the ht lead. I used a ktm one like the one on my enduro bike. £40. google will show lots of hour meters for similar money.
out playing on the Gas Gas today, dropped the bike and the kickstart snapped where it fits to the knuckle; luckily I could bumpstart it. just looked at the price of them - anything from £100 upwards.
New to me, 2005 250 txt pro. runs well, lots of compression, low smoke and low fuel usage - mixture spot on according to the plug colour. The bike was owned by 2 people prior to me and I don't think it has done too much work due to the overall good condition of the bike.
I am using good oils and clean re-oil the air filter each ride (what a p.i.t.a fitting the filter!)
Basically, when do you need to change the piston and rings?
Trying new things and generally fooling about.
What Did You Do To Your Gas Gas Today?
in Gas Gas
Posted
Jimmie - it sounds like I could have written that first paragraph, because thats how it has been for me.............! so, that is encouraging too! thanks for that. cheers - Andrew